Cloak Fabric

[Lady Rebecca]

I went to Hancocks again today, to see if there were any good alternates to wool, and I found a nice Oatmeal-colored woven fabric, and a nice burgundy flannel for the lining. There was enough of the lining, but the pattern calls for about 7 yds of fabric, and there was 6 1/8yds of the oatmeal. I think I'm going to go back and get it later tonight (I put it on hold), because after I laid out the pattern on the floor, it seems like I only need about 6 yds anyway (I hate it when patterns tell you you need more than you do!). And if it's not quite long enough, I guess I won't have a floor length robe.

On the plus side, both the lining and the outer are only $3.99/yd, and I have a 40% off coupon.

On the down side, because of this sale, I also spent $60 on about 19 yds of remnant fabric. But it was so pretty, I couldn't resist!

[Jon Foster]

Not to get off topic but we always seem to see wool come back around...

For the last few years we've moved towards high priced modern materials in our heavy winter hunting gear. This past year I was in a tree stand with our oldest daughter in sub zero weather. She was a real trooper but she finally got to the point where she was so cold she couldn't function. So, she pulled off her heavy gear, wrapped up in a wool blanket and in a few short minutes she was warm as could be again. And yes, even though wool is heavy when wet it still retains it's thermal properties and will keep you nice and warm...

Jon.

[Lady Rebecca]

I wound up not buying it. I don't know if I'm going to regret that or not. But the color wasn't ideal.

And I think I'm going to try finding another army surplus place tomorrow. I tried to go to one today, but either I just didn't see it, or it wasn't where it was supposed to be!

[Lady Rebecca]

I found wool. I went to a sort of Asian fabric wherehouse place, where none of the fabrics were organized, marked as to what they were, or marked as to what price they were. But when I asked, it turned out the olive green wool they had was $3. And who can pass that up?

On the downside, it's olive green, so while it doesn't clash, it means I have a 3rd green in my garb. Oh dear...

[Kate XXXXXX]

Olive green is good.  And cloaks don't have to match everything.

Keep us posted on this one... 

[Imestra]

The cloaks I have made are also from Simplicity 5794, and I concur with the comments made by Elennare because the hood is very huge.  There is so much fullness, I tend to fold it back at the front, exposing 10 to 12 inches of lining, in order to keep the weight forward and keep the hood from falling back off the head. 
But I love my pink tassell!
The design of these cloaks seem to have a train at the back hem.  I altered the length to only and inch or so train, and as I'm a truly short person ant 5'1", had enough fabric left over to make a complete waist length cape for my rogue.  He chose the smallest hood, and it still plenty full.

[Lady Rebecca]

Have those of you who have made this pattern found that it tells you to buy way too much fabric? I extended the length and shoulder width a couple inches from what the pattern said, so I decided to buy 7 yds instead of the 6 5/8 that I believe it originally required. But after cutting my pieces out, I wound up with 2 whole yards that I didn't use. Good thing it was only $3/yd!

I'm leaving in a little bit to go to Hancocks for lining. I'm hoping I might be able to have the whole thing together by tonight, minus the frogs. Where is a good place to find metal frogs?

[Alisoun]

I had a bunch of fabric left from this pattern with both cloaks.   I thought it was because I had to hem so much to avoid tripping, but I still have enough from both cloaks to make a couple of bodices with accessories.  Yay, matching pieces!

[Manwariel]

You can get metal frogs at Hancocks (sometimes) and JoAnn's (they're with the buttons at mine), or from various stores online like twinrosedesigns.com and buttondrawer.com

[Elennare]

Have those of you who have made this pattern found that it tells you to buy way too much fabric? I extended the length and shoulder width a couple inches from what the pattern said, so I decided to buy 7 yds instead of the 6 5/8 that I believe it originally required. But after cutting my pieces out, I wound up with 2 whole yards that I didn't use. Good thing it was only $3/yd!

Now that you mention it, yeah.  I did have a bunch of material left over.

[Lady Rebecca]

The cloak is finished, other than the clasp. I was going to do a little embroidery around the hood, too, but my machine is being tempermental, so that might not happen. I should have a picture up later today or tomorrow.

[Adriana Rose]

If the olive is not your color you can get a darker green dye for it.

[Lady Rebecca]

Here are the pictures! I added a clasp.

[gem]

Huzzah, Lady R, that looks fabulous!   (I actually just typed "that looks fabric"  LOL!)

What did you line it with?  I love the rose-and-olive contrast.

[Lady Rebecca]

It was marked as flannel, but it doesn't feel like flannel. It's lightweight and soft and sort of stretchy. It makes me think of a sort of thermal knit.

And thank you!